Control for producers of inert gases



20, 1934.. W J. WILLENBORG CONTROL FOR PRODUCERS OF INERT GASES Filed Feb. 19, 1929 Wax/fer]. Wf/[Efl [7UP INVENTOR 5;. AfTORNEY Patented Mar. 20, 1934 PATENT OFFICE CONTROL FOR PRODUCERS OF INER'I' GASES Walter J. Willenborg, Weehawken, N. J., assignmto U. 8. Fire Protection Corporation, Hoboken, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application February 19, 1929, Serial No. 341,268

9 Claims.

My invention concerns producers of inert gases. Some features of my improvements apply to producers of this kind in general; in other respects my invention concerns producers of inert gases which involve the use of internal combustion engines. The exhaust gases from such engines are frequently used to produce nonexplosive atmospheres above and around readily burnable substances. To assure the quality of the inert gas for such a purpose, its oxygen contents must not exceed a certain maximum, so that the inert gas cannot sustain combustion of an oxidizable gas, when mixed therewith.

I have succeeded in improving upon producers of inert gases to such an extentthat their operation is fully automatic and fool-proof, and some of the objects of my invention are, first, to connect with a rotary inert gas producer an electric starting motor which is automatically started when the supply of inert gases stored in a storage tank reaches a certain minimum; second, to measure the inert quality of such a gas from its C02 contents; third, to store only such gases, which have a certain degree of quality of inertness; fourth, to interrupt the passage of the gas from the producer to the storage tank for periods during which the quality of the gas does not come up to a certain standard of inertness; fifth, to stop the rotary producer when a certain maximum of inert gas has been stored in ,the storage tank; sixth, to disconnect and to stop the starting motor when the gas producer is rotating as a prime mover; seventh, to control by automatic means the production and storage of inert gases within specific limits of quantity and quality.

These and other objects I attain by the apparatus illustrated and indicated in the accompanying drawing which shows the various means used in substantially diagrammatic views.

The parts shown in the drawing may be grouped into the following classes:

1--An internal combustion engine combined with a pump.

2A starting motor for said engine and means electrically.

3A main power control. 4-A storage tank and pressure control'means r in connection therewith.

5-Apparatus for checking the quality and for controlling the delivery of the gas produced.

Parts belonging to the same one of the classes enumerated above are indicated by the corresponding numeral. Similar parts are indi for controlling said motor mechanically and cated by the combination of similar numerals and letters throughout the drawing.

The housing 1a of the engine is provided with cooling chambers 1b adjoining the combustion chamber 1c as well as the pump chamber 1d. To the crank shaft 1e, which is rotatably mounted in the housing 1a of the engine, are connected by the connecting rods 1f the pistons 1g, which are directionally opposed to each other in their operation in the two cylinders 10 and 1d. The crank shaft is connected by gearing 17' to the cam shaft 12'. From the cam shaft are controlled, by suitable cams, the operations of the intake valve 1h and the exhaust valve 1k on the internal combustionchamber lc,the engine being indi- 7o cated as functioning on the principle of a fourcycle internal combustion engine,-and of the intake valve 1m in the pump chamber 1d, the compressed gas leaving said pump through valve In. Intake valve 1h is supplied with the mixture of explosive gas through pipe lu which is connected to a suitable carburetor (not shown); Exhaust valve 110 connects through pipe 112, the exhaust manifold to the "scrubber 1w, a tank which serves to suitably wash, clean and filter so the exhaust gases. The upper end of the scrubber connects, by means of pipe 13 to the intake. valve 1m in the pump chamber. Valve 11!. functions unidirectionally, a spring seated behind the valve stem keeping the valve normally closed. 35 The valve in opens, when the drop of pressure between the gas in chamber 1d and the gas in pipe 5a is sufficiently large to counteract the tension of the spring in the head of valve In.

To the cam shaft is also coupled the magneto in from which a high tension current is, distributed through the conductor lg to the spark plug 11' seated in the head of the combustion chamber 10. On the crank 1c of the engine is mounted a fly-wheel 1s of sufficient weight to 5 carry the engine subsequent to an explosion cycle through the remaining three cycles as well as to perform the pumping work in chamber 111 during all four of these cycles. Into the circumference of the fiy-wheel is is cut the spur ring it. The spur pinion 2a of the starting motor 21) meshes into the spur it on fly-wheel 1s. The spur pinion 2a is adapted to be shifted in. the direction of the axis of motor 2b; automatic means for bringing about disengagement of the 5 pinion from the spur gear it, when the engine has reached suficient speed, are used, such means having been developed to a high degree of efficiency and being well known in the art of automotive gearing. Exemplarily shifting means for the pinion 2a are indicated by a shift lever 2p the free end of which is operatively coupled to the hub on pinion 2a; the shift lever is normally tensioned by a spring 2q in a counter-clockwise direction; in that-position of the lever the pinion 2a is disengaged from the spur gear. A polepiece, mounted on said lever, faces an electromagnet 21', so that energization of said electromagnet will swing the lever to the right.

Such movement of the lever slides the pinion 2a along the shaft of motor 2?) into mesh with spur gear 1t.

The crank shaft 1c of the engine carries 0 its end a pulley 20 which by means of a belt 2d drives a governor 2e. The crank shaft and the shaft of the governor extending at right angles to each other the belt 20 is of course twisted through degrees to connect the respective pulleys. Upon belt 2d rests an idler pulley 2f near the pulley 2c. Said idler pulley is mounted on the free end of lever 2g which is rotatably pivoted onto bracket 2h. Lever 2g carries a mercury switch 21' which is disposed at such an angle that the swinging downward of lever 2g, when the belt 2d breaks and the idler 2! thereby loses its support, will interrupt the electric contact made in said mercury switch thereby operating the circuit 27'. Another lever 2k is rotatably pivoted onto bracket 2h, its free end 2m resting on top of the governor 2e. The mercury switch 2n is also electrically connected into circuit 27 and it is mounted on lever 27c at such an angle that the contact in said switch, which is normally closed, is opened, when the governor 2e is driven by the pulley from the engine at such a speed that the free end 2m of lever 21c drops, together with the top of the governor, for a specific distance.

The three cables 3a supply electric power from a suitable source of power. They lead to a circuit breaker 3b the control relays 3c of which are suitably connected to a remote point by wires 3d, from where the supply of power to the gas producing apparatus is to be turned on or off.

From the circuit breaker 3b the power supply connects to a second circuit breaker 3e which controls the motor 21) by'means of the conductors 3k, 3m and 3n. In parallel with the motor, the electromagnet 21' is connected across the two latter conductors 3m and 3n.

The circuit breaker 3e is controlled by circuit closing relays 3 The current required to operate these relays is tapped from one branch of the main power supply at a point between the two. circuit breakers; the wires 39 and 3h indicate part of saidrelay circuit, the wire 3h connecting to the mercury switches 21' and 212. from which the circuit is carried back by the wire 27'.

dial is slidably mounted the contactor 4d serving as a contact which may be set at the point of minimum pressure desired in the storage tank. The pointer 40 is provided on its end with an electric brush member which contacts with con- V tactor 4dlwhen a minimum pressure is reached and the circuit 4a, 4b, is closed thereby. The

maximum pressure contactor 4mris similar to the contactor 4d and is also adjustable along the arc of the dialAk. when the contacting brush on the endo! the pointer 40 contacts with said maximum pressurecontactor 4m, electrical contact is established between the circuit 4a and the conductor 4n which leads to the solenoid 4p; solenoid 4p is connected by the conductor 41' to 4w, one of the legs of the source of current. Excitation of solenoid 4p will lift the contact member 4s from its position of rest shown, and will short-circuit the magneto circuit 1q, to which it is connected by a wire 4t, by means of a ground connection 4a to the housing 1a of the engine.

The pipe 5a through which the gas is expelled from the pump chamber 142 connects to a T 51), one branch of which connects to a solenoid-operated normally-open valve 56: and from there through opening 511 to the air, whereas the other branch of the T connects to a normally closed solenoid-operated valve 5e which connects to the pressure tank 4g. Just below T 5b a pipe connection 5h connects to the CO2 indicator 5i. Said CO2 indicator is of Orsat type or operated on any other principle used in such indicators by those acquainted with the art of testing flue gases. The indicator is operated by a motor 57' which is connected to the main source of power through the circuit breaker 3b and therefore the indicator functions continuously while said remote control circuit breaker 3b is closed. A scale 5k is provided in the CO2 indicator on which the CO: contents of the inert gases may be observed. An exemplary scale ranging from zero to- 15% is indicated. On the scale 5k is slidably mounted a contactor 5m which may be set so as to establish at any point of the scale an electric contact with the .pointer 511.; that pointer indicates on the scale the CO2 contents of the gas. Suitable means for establishing a contact between said pointer and contact 5m are provided onthe end of pointer 51:. so that at and above a certain percentage of CO2 indicated contact is established closing a circuit 510. Said circuit is supplied with power from one leg. of the main circuit and it includes a solenoid 5a which operates a contactor 51'. When said solenoid 5q is energized the contactor 5r closes a circuit 5s which is supplied with power from onebranch of the main circuit and it in-- cludes the two solenoids 5t and 5a. which operate the normally open valve 50 and the normally closed valve 5e, respectively. The stems Em and 5111 of the two valves are normally pressed downward by thesprings 5y, the flux'set up'by the solenoid 5t and 5a counter-acting these two springs.

The function of the producer part of my invention, the engine, is readily discernible to those acquainted with the art of internal combustion engines in general, and the method of incorporating into the layout of such an engine a suitable pump is old in the art of producers of inert gases. For that reason the function of the engine itself is described only briefly in the following so that the function of my improvements may be readily explained in connection therewith. An explosive mixture is fed from a suitable carburetor into the engine by means of pipe lu through valve In and the power created by the explosion in the chamber 2- 1c is transmitted from the respective piston 19' by means of connecting rod 11 to the crank shaft 1e. Ignition of the explosive mixture is brought about by the spark plug 11' which receives, at suitably timed intervals, a high free iii ouency current from the magneto in. The burned gases are driven through the exhaust valve 17::

from.- the cylinder 10 by the upward stroke of the piston lg, following the downward explosion stroke. They pass through the pipe 122 into the tank 111) where they are suitably cleaned, filtered and washed. From tank lw the exhaust gases are sucked through pipe 13/ and through valve 1m into the pump cylinder id by the downward stroke of the respective piston lg, which is operatively connected to crank shaft 1e, and they leave said cylinder, upon the upward stroke of said piston, through the valve in, when they are compressed in the cylinder to a pressure sutficient to overcome the combined pressures of the spring of valve In and of the gases contained in the pipe 5a and in the parts connected thereto.

Prior to my invention the valve in represented substantially the only control used in connection with gas producers of this kind. When a sufilcient pressure had been built up in the pipe line So and in the parts connected thereto, the exhaust gas ceased to operate the valve In and eventually the exhaust gases thus retained in the engine and in tank 1w prevented the entrance upon the explosion chamber of additional unburned gases, the gas in the cylinder head refused to ignite and thus the engine eventually came to a stop. This involved of course on one side the mixing of some unburned gases with the exhaust gases and thus reduced the enertness of the gas leaving the explosion chamber, on the other side it caused choking and the collection of carbon whereby the efficient operation of the engine was greatly impeded. Although I retain the valve In, and although by corresponding function the engine would eventually be stopped when a high pressure has been built up on the exhaust end, I'

do not use the reaction of the exhaust gases to bring about the stopping of the engine when a high pressure has been attained; but such stopping is brought about independent of said reaction, at the right time, i. e., when the desired maximum pressure of the. exhaust gases in storage tank 4g has been attained. This interruption of the production of inert gases and of their flow is brought about by the pressure gage 4e. The

contactor 4m is set upon the dial 4k so that its upper side aligns with the maximum pressure desired, as indicated on the scale of said dial 4k in the drawing. As an example, the contactor 4m has thus been set in the drawing to register with the 90 pound mark on the scale. Under these circumstances the pointer 40 will contact with the contactor 4111. when it registers 90 pounds and a current will thus be set up, at and above said pressure, in the circuit 4a, 412, 41', 4111'; the relay 4p in said circuit is excited and the contactor 4s will be caused to close the circuit 4t, 4u. Closing of circuit 4t, 4u short-circuits the circuit lq which serves to supply current from the magneto 1;) to the spark plug 11' and the ignition thus is interrupted. Interruption of the ignition brings about instantaneous stopping of the internal combustion engine, the weight of fiy wheel 1s being just suificient to carry the engine through one complete cycle, as explained above. The ignition circuit lq will be short circuited as long as the pressure in tank 4g remains at or above 90 pounds. When said pressure drops below 90 pounds, the short-circuiting of the circuit 111 ceases, the circuit 4a, 4n, 4r, 4w being opened, as the contact between pointer 40 and contactor 4m is interrupted. But the ignition will of course not function again until the engine isstarted and that cannot take place until the starting motor 2b has been set into motion.

The function of the whole apparatus is controlled by the main circuit breaker 3?). Circuit breaker 3b in turn is controlled by the relay circult 3d. This circuit includes the relays 30 which control the closing of the circuit breaker 3b. The circuit 3d leads to a remote point from where the operation of the gas producer is to be stopped or started, a suitable switch being inclu ed at that point in the circuit 3d. From the main circuit breaker 3b the current leads to the circuit breaker 3e which controls the motor 2?). Circuit breaker 3c is automatically controlled by the relays 3], The closing of switch 3b will however start the starting motor 217 only in case the switch 3c is closed; and the closing of switch Be on the other hand depends on whether the circuit, which includes the relays 3 is closed. Three switches are included in the circuit of the relays 3). These three switches or contactors are the mercury switch 2%, the mercury switch 212 and the low pressure contacting means on the pressure gage 4e. Mercury switch 22' is normally closed when the twisted belt 2d properly extends between the driving pulley 20 on the end of the crank shaft and the governor 2e. This switch is therefore open only in case said belt has been removed from the machine or is broken so as not to support the idler pulley 2). The mercury switch 212 is closed when the engine is not running. When the engine reaches a certain speed, the rotation of the governor allows lever 2m resting on top of said governor to drop and the contact in mercury switch 211 is interrupted. When the engine is 110 operating at its normal speed the circuit of relays 3] will therefore be open at the point of the mercury switch 2n. When the engine is at rest, the circuit of the relays 3 is closed at the point of the mercury switches, and the relays will be energized when the main switch 3b is closed and when the pointer 40 contacts with the contactor 4d on the pressure gage 4e. As an example the contactor 4d has been set on the dial 4k of the pressure gage so that the pointer contacts with 120 the contactor when any pressure below 50 pounds is registered. When there is a pressure of more than 50 pounds in the storage tank 4g the start ing motor of the engine cannot be started. But the starting motor 222 will be operated-when the engine is not in operation and when the pressure in the storage tank 4g is at any point below 50 pounds.

As explained before, the relay 2r is under current when the switch 3e is closed. That means 130 that the pinion 2a is pulled into engagement with the. gear 1t whenever the starting motor 2b is,in operation. After the starting motor has started the operation of the internal combustion engine, so that said engine operates as a prime mover, 135 the mercury switch 2n is opened by means of the governor, the switch 3e is thereby opened and the starting motor comes to a stop and the driving pinion 2a is withdrawn from engagement with pipe 5h to the C0: indicator St. The CO: indicator is continuously in operation, the operating motor 59', forming part thereof, being supplied.

with current through the main switchBb. The measurement of the CO2 contents of the inert gases delivered by the engine may be brought about by any of the many methods known to those acquainted with the art. A dial is shown as part of the indicator which is, as an example, provided with a scale indicating C02 contents within the range from 0% to 15%, the pointer 5n indicating exemplarily the percentage of C02 contained in the inert gas as 6%, and the contactor 5m being set so as to bring about a contact between the pointer 5n and said contactor 5m at about 10% and above said percentage of CO2. When the indicator 5n is in the position shown, or registers any other percentage of CO2 contents below 10%, the circuit 5p is open. The solenoid 511 is there-' fore not energized and the circuit 56 is also open. This means that under those circumstances the solenoid valve 5c is open and the solenoid Se is closed, which is the position in which these two valves are shown in the drawing. Under those circumstances, i. e., when the inert gas delivered from the engine contains less than 10% of CO2,-

the said gases will not pass through valve 5e to the storage tank 49, but they will pass through valve 50 out into the air. The. gases delivered by the engine will'be diverted in such manner until their CO2 contents reach a percentage of 10%, when contact is made by the pointer 5n of the indicator with the contactor 5m, the solenoid circuit 5p is closed, contactor 51" is closed, the circuit 5s is thereby closed and the two solenoids 5t and 5a change the position of the respective valves,

i. e., valve 50 will be closed and the by-passing of the gas to the air is thereby interrupted, and valve 5e is opened, the inert gases being delivered to the storage tank 4g. If at any time thereafter the CO2 contents of the gas again drop below 10%, the percentage at which the contactor 5m is exemplarily set on the scale of the indicator 5i, the valves 50 and 5e again return to the position shown in the drawing, the inert gas of in? ferior quality being by-passed into the air. Therefore no gas of an inferior quality is even fed to the storage tank and the quality of gas stored in the storage tank may be kept up to any desired standard by a corresponding setting of 5m 'on scale 5k.

Of course the modification of the by-pass arrangement shown serves only to illustrate my methodof maintaining the quality of the inert gas. The two valves 50 and 5e may be combined into a single three way valve which by means of electrical relays is connected, either to the air or to the storage tank 4g, according to the inferior or superior quality of the inert gases delivered from the engine. The electrical means shown may of course be reduced to a single circuit when the contacting means 5m, 5n are rugged enough to carry the full current required for the operation of the valves. Nor does the operative connection between the CO2 indicator and the valve have to be brought about by electrical means but may be made by any other means known to the art. This also applies to the means serving to control the circuit breaker 3e from the governor of the engine and from the low pressure point of the pressure gage, both of which operative connections may be brought about by simple mechanical means as frequently used in the art. In corresponding manner arrangements may be made to directly short circuit the circuit 1q, when a certain maximum of pressure is reached in the storage tank 4g, instead of bringing such operation about by an auxiliary contactor 4s.

Although I have shown and described one form of an embodiment of my invention in great detail, yet, I do not wish to be limited thereby, except as the state of the art and the appended claims may require, for it is obvious that various modifications and changes may be made in the organization, construction and parts of my invention, without departing from the spirit thereof.

The process herein disclosed is claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 458,583.

I claim:

1. In combination with an internal combustion engine a CO: indicator, storage means and a branch outlet connected to the discharge of said engine, valves selectively controlling the discharge into said storage means or into said branch outlet-and a device operated by said CO2 indicator at the point of registry of a desirable percentage of CO2 and operatively connected to-said valves, so that only gases which contain the said desirable percentage of C02 and a higher percentage thereof are discharged into said storage means.

2. In combination with an internal combustion engine delivering exhaust gases, means to measure the CO2 content of said delivered gases, means connected with said measuring means and automatically controlled thereby to effect the discharge to the atmosphere of those of said gases having less than a predetermined content of C02, means to store such of said gases as contain more than said predetermined content of CO2, and means connected with said measuring means and automatically controlled thereby to permit the discharge of said last mentionedgases into said storage means.

3. In combination with an internal combustion engine delivering exhaust gases, means to control the operations of said engine and thereby the discharge of said gases, means to measure the CO2 content of said gases, means connected therewith and automatically controlled thereby to effect the discharge to the'atmosphere of such of said gases as have less than a predetermined content of CO2, means to store such of said gases as contain more than a predetermined content of CO2, and means connected with said measuring means and automatically controlled thereby to permit the discharge of said last mentioned gases into said storage means.

4. In combination with an internal combustion engine delivering exhaust gases, means automatically controlling the operation of said engine and thereby the generation of said gases, means to stop the actuation of said engine upon the storage of a predetermined quantity of gases therefrom, a pump adapted to discharge said gases from said engine, means to store said gases, means controlled by the pressure of said stored gases, a conduit leading from said engine discharge to said storage means, electrically controlled and operated mechanism associated with said conduit to control the flow of gas from said engine to said storage means and to the atmosphere, and means toanalyze said gases discharged from said engine, and to control'said machine whereby to store suchot said gases as exceed a predetermined content of CO2 in said storage means, and to discharge to the atmosphere such of said gases as do not equal or exceed the predetermined CO2 contents.

5. In combination with an internal combustion age container and so that gases of an inferior quality are passed to said outlet, a starter on said engine, means for starting said starter, means for stopping said engine, and means actuated by the pressure of said quality gases stored in said container and operatively connected with said starting and' stopping means.

6. In combination with an internal combustion engine having an exhaust manifold, an outlet and a storage container connected with said exhaust manifold, valve means for selectively passing said gases from said exhaust manifold to said outlet or to said storage container, an analyzer connected with said exhaust manifold, registering the quality of said gases, and operatively connected with said valve means, so that exhaust gases of a certain quality are passed to said storage container and so that gases of an inferior quality are passed to said outlet, a starter on said engine, means for disconnecting said starter from said engine during the period of time in which said engine is operating under its own power, means for stopping said starter when it rotates at a predetermined speed, means for starting said starter, means for stoppingsaid engine, and means actuated by the pressure of said quality gases stored in said container and operatively connected with said starting and stopping means.

7. In combination with a producer of inert gases, an outlet and astorage container connected with said producer, valve means for selectively passing said gases from said producer to said outlet or to said storage container, and an analyzer connected with said producer, registering the quality of said gases, and operatively connected with said valve means, so that exhaust gases of a certain quality are passed to said storage container and so that gases of an inferior quality are passed to said outlet.

8. In combination with an internal combustion engine discharging exhaust gases, means to direct discharged gases selectively to a plurality of destinations, and means automatically responsive to variations in the C02 content of discharged gases to actuate said directing means whereby such discharge gases are discharged to one such destination when of one CO2 content and to another such destination when of a different CO2 content.

9. In combination with an internal combustion engine having an exhaust pipe, valve means in said pipe for selectively directing the discharge of gases therefrom, an analyzer responsive to variations of the quality of gases discharging through the pipe and means operatively connecting the analyzer to the valve means to direct the discharge according to the quality of the gas whereby gas of one quality may be discharged to one destination and gas of another quality to another destination.

WALTER J. WILLENBORG. 

